Archive for the 'Toby Keith' Tag Under 'Soundcheck' Category

So December's benefit Mouse House benefit shows from Sublime with Rome didn't sate your appetite for blunted LBC grooves. Lucky you: the splintered group's fill-in frontman, who issued his own EP nearly two years ago, has planned a solo set at the Coach House on April 4. Tickets, $17, go on sale Friday, March 7, at 10 a.m.

Also coming to the San Juan Capistrano club, but on sale now: the English Beat with Undecided Future, March 29, $25; tribute act Super Diamond, May 2, $25; singer-songwriter Spencer Day, June 22, $30; and return engagements from Benise (July 18, $32.50), surf-rock king Dick Dale (Aug. 30, $25) and Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks (Sept. 10, $25).

Toby Keith: Another show involved in Live Nation’s Country Megaticket promotion is going on sale individually, as this firebrand’s Southern California stop on his Shut Up & Hold On Tour, May 30 at San Manuel Amphitheater in Devore, becomes available Friday at 10 a.m. Cold Ford and Krystal Keith will open. Tickets: $15.75-$70.75.

James Taylor: He’s added a second show at the Hollywood Bowl with his Allstar Band on June 8, $25-$195, on sale Monday at 10 a.m. A pre-sale for American Express card-holders begins Thursday at 10 a.m. and ends Sunday at 10 p.m.

Friday morning's news of the passing of George Jones weighed heavy on the hearts of most artists that graced stages here during Day 1 of the seventh annual Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio. Sets were filled with tributes to the Grand Ole Opry legend, with headliner Toby Keith changing his plans to include two of Jones' early classics, "She Thinks I Still Care" and "White Lightning."

"He's the face of country music that everyone wants to be," Keith said as the crowd cheered. "I'll try my best to do some George Jones and let you all hear what real country music is like."

The Possum's passing clearly had Mane stage performer Trace Adkins in a somber mood, as he played his set straight and serious before tearing up during his nod to Jones with a heartbreaking version of "The Grand Tour." Joe Nichols paid homage with "I'm a One Woman Man," while on the Palomino stage, country/gospel veteran Connie Smith went further: "We dedicate our hearts, our love, the whole show to George Jones. He'll be in my heart forever."

Alt-country and Americana favorites performing on tented side stages were also inspired to salute. Acclaimed Texan singer-songwriter Hayes Carll taking a moment to address his dancing audience: "Being in a place like this with all the country music, it's hard not to let it cast a shadow on today's events. But hopefully he's looking down and he's proud."

Social media sites have been blowing up with the news all morning, but in case you haven't noticed or missed the announcement on Go Country 105, the lineup for the seventh annual Stagecoach festival has been revealed, with Toby Keith, Lady Antebellum and Zac Brown Band as headliners.

Keith, who last appeared in 2010, will help kick off the three-day event, April 26-28 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, along with two outspoken Louisiana mavericks, Hank Williams Jr. and Trace Adkins. Also expected to perform are actor/singer Jeff Bridges and his band the Abiders, folk-rock icon Roger McGuinn, Old Crow Medicine Show, Joe Nichols, Hayes Carll, Commander Cody and Country Music Hall of Fame vocalist Connie Smith, among others.

Lady Antebellum, which hasn't been back since an afternoon slot in 2009, has risen to show-closer for Day 2, alongside Dierks Bentley, who hasn't played Stagecoach since 2008. Also in the mix that day will be Rodney Atkins, Phil Vassar, Tiger Army frontman Nick 13, Justin Townes Earle and a raft of veterans, including Dwight Yoakam, Marty Stuart, Suzy Bogguss and John Anderson.

Zac Brown Band, also back for the first time since a breakout set at Stagecoach 2009, will finish off the next fest, with support from Darius Rucker (in his third Indio appearance), Thompson Square and Lonestar. Rock 'n' roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis along with three bona fide country legends – Charley Pride, Don Williams and Tanya Tucker – will presumably perform in the Palomino tent.

Acclaimed Brooklyn band Grizzly Bear has announced its first album in three years will drop Sept. 18, with an international tour to start two days before that, launching in the U.K. and arriving stateside soon after.

And this time the group is headlining some of the most prestigious venues in the country, including Radio City Music Hall, Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, Boston's Orpheum Theatre and eventually the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, where the group makes its headlining debut on Oct. 10. (Drat. I'll be at Staples Center for Madonna.)

Tickets, $27.50-$35, go on sale Friday, June 8, at 10 a.m. The title of the new album, by the way, is still forthcoming, though you can hear the first single, the waltzing psychedelia of "Sleeping Ute," via YouTube.

Another year, another Toby Keith tour: the ever-popular country mainstay's next tour, dubbed Live in Overdrive, will make Southern California stops in the usual places, Aug. 9 at Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre in Chula Vista and Aug. 10 at San Manuel Amphitheater in Devore.

August 14th, 2011, 11:00 am by ROBERT KINSLER, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

For country-lovin' concert-goers who like to party, Go Country 105's annual Go Fest was the place to be Saturday night. Irvine's Verizon Wireless Amphitheater doubled as a favorite watering hole for a countless number in the capacity crowd, while the evening's three principal performers, including headliner Toby Keith, essentially served as an above-average house band.

Given that yours truly is not accustomed to being grabbed by hammered fans looking for somebody to break their fall, I admit to being a bit biased. But the proceedings on the main and side stages definitely took a backseat to the audience action all around. By the time Keith took the stage just after 9 p.m., it's a safe bet many in the audience were counting on friends (or a friendly neighborhood reviewer) to inform them post-hangover about how the music-making itself went down.

Keith, backed by a superb 10-member troupe, performed the majority of his chart-topping hits, as well as many of the best tracks from last year's excellent Bullets in the Gun. In addition to the title track, highlights from that album included the accessible "Somewhere Else" and the rowdy singalong "Get Out of My Car." Early in his two-hour turn, Keith also played his new single, "Made in America," a patriotic tale (from his forthcoming album Clancy's Tavern) that celebrates one man's refusal to give up on brand U.S.A.

His material continues to resonate so strongly with fans via straightforward lyrics, catchy choruses and, in the case of the patriotic one-two punch that ended the show, "American Soldier" and "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)," messages that are often centered on the Oklahoma native's love of God and country. Keith, who turned 50 last month, occasionally delved into deeper material, especially in the heartfelt tale of loss "Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine on You," which found the singer's rich baritone accompanied only by his keyboardist in the most affecting performance of the day.

Yet it was his tales of casual romance and hearty drinking that became the perfect sonic backdrop here for pounding down brews. The honky-tonk-tinged "I Love This Bar," the infectious "God Love Her," the Willie Nelson duet "Beer for My Horses" (amazing modern technology had them effectively trading vocals for all to see) and the old-time rock 'n' roll-flavored "A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action" all hit home here. So did the impressive pyrotechnics used throughout his 22-song set.

General-admission tickets are $75 but will rise fast to $95. VIP access, including exclusive viewing areas, lounges, food concessions and more, go for $150, while Pacific Club tickets, which adds on complimentary food and booze, is $175 apiece. PacificFestival.com. (Snoop also hosts a Health Awareness Benefit Concert on Sunday at Club Nokia in the L.A. Live complex, $35-$55.)

• Go Fest 2011 -- It's essentially the O.C. stop on Toby Keith's tour behind his October album Bullets in the Gun, with Eric Church and JT Hodges in tow. But Saturday's show at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine (8800 Irvine Center Drive) is being gussied up as Go Country 105's latest summertime festival, complete with a second stage featuring performances from Bradley Gaskin, local favorite Peter Brandon and Jason Charles Miller. Tickets are $15.50-$99. Doors open at 3:30 p.m., with the second stage and line dancing starting shortly thereafter and main-stage sets kicking off at 7. (The three principal acts also play tonight at Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre, in Chula Vista, $25.25-$84.75.) 800-745-3000. livenation.com, gocountry105.com.

• En Fuego: Voices and Guitars with Fireworks! -- Mexico's astonishingly skilled acoustic guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela, one of the most celebrated instrumental groups of the past decade, will get backing from the L.A. Philharmonic when they headline two “Weekend Spectacular” nights at the Hollywood Bowl, Friday and Saturday at 8:30. Venezuelan dance-rock outfit Los Amigos Invisibles will open both shows, and fireworks will cap off each program. The landmark venue is located at 1735 N. Vermont Ave. Tickets are $11-$158.

It's essentially just the next stop on his current tour, behind 14th album Bullets in the Gun, which came out in October. But when Toby Keith arrives Aug. 13 to headline Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, with Eric Church in tow, not only will the country star have turned 50, but his event will occur under a bigger banner: Go Country 105's annual Go Fest.

To help flesh out such a bash, the radio station will have a side stage featuring three newcomers: Jason Charles Miller, Ty Stone and Bradley Gaskin. Doors are at 3:30 p.m. that day, with performances kicking off a half-hour later.

Tickets go on sale Saturday, June 18, at 10 a.m., with a pre-sale for Citi Cardmembers running from Wednesday at 10 a.m. until Friday at 10 p.m. Prices range from as low as $20 for lawn access to $103.50 for orchestra seats. There also will be a four-pack lawn special, as well as a $40 Hell Raiser Super Saver deal on pairs of tickets. LiveNation.com should have more details on those later this week.

The undeterred brains behind this past weekend's artistically exceptional but commercially unsuccessful Country Throwdown festival in Irvine has learned, after 16 years of staging the consistently profitable punk-a-palooza known as Warped Tour, that it can take years of modest results to fully realize big dreams.

A lesser-experienced concert promoter surely would have packed up and gone home after the glaringly poor turnout for Saturday's fun in the sun at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, the penultimate date of a nationwide outing that canceled two other Southwestern dates, in Phoenix and San Diego, because of low ticket sales.

You probably could have squeezed everyone who bought a seated ticket into the orchestra section, actually, and during the first half of the event -- until ever-excitable Jack Ingram literally went “Barefoot and Crazy,” took off his boots and threw them to the crowd (ew!) just after 6 p.m. -- that's pretty much what happened. After that, the lawn looked a little more than half-full; the loge and terrace sections were almost empty.

A year late for the concert industry, the recession has finally sunk in, and here's another example of what's becoming weekly evidence of people staying home in droves, no matter the performer, no matter how high or low the ticket price or what 2-for-1, no-service-fee promotions are enacted.

Gotta ready myself for Ben Folds tonight at the Music Box, his second in a series of four SoCal solo-piano shows that ends Friday night at the Mouse House. But before I sit in traffic, I thought I'd pass on some announcements and reminders:

Does anyone remember when Billy Idol last played the Hollywood Palladium? Why does it seem like it must be since before I was in high school (class of '87, since I brought up)? Regardless, he's headed there Aug. 14. Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m., price tba.

Don't forget (wait, I already did) that Crystal Bowersox and the nine finalists she hopefully will have beaten on her way to her win are on their way on the American Idol Live! Tour 2010: Aug. 13 at Staples Center in L.A., Aug. 16 at Viejas Arena in San Diego, and Aug. 17 at Honda Center in Anaheim. Tickets -- $40.50-$76 for Staples, $40.50-$70.50 for Viejas and $52.80-$89.10 for Anaheim (ouch!) -- go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m.

Those who missed out on Stagecoach -- or enjoyed it so much they want more -- should recall that Toby Keith's July 30 show at Gibson Amphitheatre, with Trace Adkins, also goes on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. It's the smallest place he's played in Southern California in many years -- maybe a decade. Prices: $45-$105.

Speaking of missing out: Thursday night's Grove of Anaheim performance from a capella outfit Straight No Chaser is sold out -- so don't delay if you want tickets for their Dec. 4 gig at the Wiltern. Those tickets, $39.5o-$49.50, are on sale now.

Jack White, Alison Mosshart and the rest of the Dead Weather -- whose second album, Sea of Cowards, arrives next week -- will play the refurbished landmark on July 21. Meanwhile, the Black Keys -- the duo of guitarist Dan Auerbach (pictured) and drummer Patrick Carney, whose soul-infused sixth album, Brothers (recorded at Alabama's famous Muscle Shoals Sound Studio), drops on May 18 -- will take over the Palladium on Sept. 27.

The Dead Weather gig goes on sale Friday at 10 a.m., $37.50. Tickets for the Black Keys show, $30, become available Friday at noon.

After packing 'em in last year at Staples Center, the Dominican-American bachata quartet Aventura will return June 23 to likely sell out Honda Center in Anaheim. Tickets, $46.50-$116.50, are on sale now.